Police: Logan man manufactured porn with local children

By Pat Reavy |
Posted - Aug 21st, 2014 @ 5:40pm

LOGAN — A man was arrested Tuesday for possessing and manufacturing child pornography at his Logan home.

Logan City police Capt. Tyson Budge said the department was first alerted to the porn possession by the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children. The center discovered repeated activity of downloading child pornography at a Logan IP address in July. Budge said police received a warrant from a judge and searched the residence of 38-year-old William Larson Tuesday.

Police found child pornography stored on multiple devices in Larson’s home, Budge said. Upon further investigation, police discovered that several of the images were of local children. Budge said it appeared Larson had been babysitting some of them.

Larson resisted arrest and spit at police officers during the arrest, Budge said. Larson was booked into the Cache County Jail on suspicion of possession and manufacturing of child pornography.

Budge said it is very rare for police to discover child pornography with local victims. The parents of the victims have been notified.

Anyone with information regarding other possible victims can contact Logan City Police at 435-716-9459.

According to court records, Larson was convicted of two counts of assault by a prisoner in 2009 in Duchesne County. He pleaded guilty but mentally ill to charges that were reduced from third-degree felonies to class A misdemeanors. He was sent to the Utah State Hospital. But during a 2010 court hearing, the court noted that "safety became an issue for the workers and they weren't able to treat Mr. Larson effectively, that his behaviors do not appear to be rooted in any kind of psychotic or effective disorder nor the product of pervasive developmental disorder."

Also in 2009, Larson was again found guilty but mentally ill of drug distribution, a third-degree felony. He was sentenced to up to five years in prison. Larson was also found guilty of drug possession in 2005, a third-degree felony and placed on probation for three years, according to court records.

His criminal history also includes a conviction of assault against a police officer in Salt Lake County in 2003 for which he was sentenced to 60 days in jail and probation; a forgery conviction in 2002, and was sentenced to six months in jail; guilty but mentally ill of misdemeanor simple assault in 1997.